Mike D'Antoni?

Mike D'Antoni is going to step down as coach of the Suns.... He'd be the perfect person to pick up where Nelly left off. It's too bad he didn't just wait a year.

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Well, he took Shaq on his team this season. I don't want Shaq, but ((( if )))) we get a monstrous big man like PHX did, I don't see why we need to blow our whole team up and start from scratch. Beside, Biedrins seems to be getting better every year, and his game is all above the rim inside the lane, which is what centers are supposed to be doing anyway. Perhaps having been in the league long enough, the referees might give Andris a little more leeway on fouls. It seemed like the guy never got the benefit of the doubt on anything that was too close to call, and he would then start playing not to foul out.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Apr 30 2008, 09:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I do like D'Antoni as a coach but I don't know if I want him here. I'm all for sticking with Nellie and smallball for another year. Then next offseason, Nellie goes, Baron is a FA, the young guys are a year older. Give it to Smart (or someone else) and we can try a more traditional style with a core of Monta, Biedrins, Wright, Beli, 2008 lotto pick. D'Antoni is only going to make us avoid rebuilding (which ultimately won't get us beyond a perennial low seed PO team).

I wouldn't be mad if we did hire D'Antoni I just think that it would be re-committing to small ball for the long term and refusing to build for the future. D'Antoni is a great coach IMO I'd just rather go in another direction.</div>

I don't know if I understand you correctly. Are you implying that Nelson and Smart are going to help more with the development of the young players than D'Antoni?

Second, I've been out of the loop the passed few weeks, but is Don Nelson for sure going to be the head coach next year? It seems to be a last minute decision, at least the last two seasons.

There seems to be a lot of good coaches getting fired. Lots of greedy owners, it seems like to me.

I guess Avery Johnson is available now, as well.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Apr 30 2008, 09:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I do like D'Antoni as a coach but I don't know if I want him here. I'm all for sticking with Nellie and smallball for another year. Then next offseason, Nellie goes, Baron is a FA, the young guys are a year older. Give it to Smart (or someone else) and we can try a more traditional style with a core of Monta, Biedrins, Wright, Beli, 2008 lotto pick. D'Antoni is only going to make us avoid rebuilding (which ultimately won't get us beyond a perennial low seed PO team).

I wouldn't be mad if we did hire D'Antoni I just think that it would be re-committing to small ball for the long term and refusing to build for the future. D'Antoni is a great coach IMO I'd just rather go in another direction.</div>

I'd be disappointed if we'd hire D'Antoni. Don't get me wrong. I think D'Antoni's a good coach, but it would be like we didn't learn anything from what the Phoenix Suns just went through -- small ball doesn't win championships. Yet, D'Antoni stubbornly sticks to his script. At least he plays two big men together though (hint, hint Nellie). I suppose D'Antoni still thinks its a matter of having the right players. Well, I thought he had the right core of players with Shawn Marion, but they still couldn't get the job done. Afterwards, we find that D'Antoni thought it was Shaq who was the missing piece. The only trouble was Shaq couldn't stop the pick and roll. Now, he'll want a younger more mobile center. Yeah, those just happen to grow on trees Mike. How about teaching and playing some defense Mike? It's what the guy who coaches the team that just beat your Phoenix Suns preaches.

But back to the Warriors. We're never going to be a great defensive team and we're built for small ball, so we can't exactly scrap it either. We'll have to get a coach who can do that while being able to see the transition to a more traditional approach. We did have a coach like that -- Rick Adelman. Anyway, I hope Mullin has some plan after Nellie retires. He can't just continue to get the type of players Nelson is clamoring for.

Oh yeah. One more thing about small ball or run and gun. It may not win because the players are too tired or injured to play in the second season when they just went through it a whole grueling season with it. It wears and tears on the legs and body since you're having to make that many more plays. If you're going to win, it's got a short life span. Don't believe me Mike? The team that just beat you and made you feel old is a team older than you! Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

 

Kerr: Wants D'Antoni back despite another playoff exit

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AtqE...p&type=lgns

I wonder what is really going on here. It seems like nothing the coach did wrong. The Suns just had the misfortune of playing last year's defending champs, who are already an nba dynasty with Duncan, Bowen, Manu, and Parker. The Spurs coach is an expert in small and big ball so that's already tough to beat if he's got the tools to do what he wants. If anything, you got to blame what they gave up to get Shaq. Getting Shaq was a good idea so that Amare can blow up at PF, but you have to get others players in the offense if the Spurs are going to exploit Shaq. They foul him before the offense can run anything and also abuse him in transition. In cases like those, they would need to go with a lighter center (like Amare) and somebody with more ability both defensively and from beyond the arc like Shawn Marion. So I can see why that questionable trade of Shaq for Marion salary dump was a big gamble. Only certain situations can one or the other be the team's MVP in a playoff game. You'd think Marion would be the better one to keep because he can hit his free throws, play a lot more D than Shaq, and he does more at this stage than Diaw or Grant Hill.

I still believe the Suns' small ball has some chance to win championships, but they have to play defense. Many times lack of size and strength doesn't do enough to play tough defense. It just puts you at a disadvantage if the point guard can't clamp down on that ball or if the center can't move his feet and the next best defender isn't a strong weakside shotblocker. Like any of the past championship teams they play tough defense. The suns had a lot of guys that made each other better, played inside and out, but unfortunately there's defensive weaknesses and free throw shooting weaknesses all over on this team.

Also, I agree we need a coach who can play it big or small, whichever wins us games in the right situation. What we don't need is some guy stubborn beyond logic like how Nelly gets. I'm not sure about Mike D'antoni, but he's had it rough with not having had any center since acquiring Steve Nash. I don't think guys like Amare and Marion liked playing one position taller, but there was really no choice because of how thin their bench initially was and remained. They didn't even get high draft picks. I think our excuse was we signed stiff centers, we drafted young guys who were too young to play a good center right away, and we don't have any kind of true big man outside of Biedrins, who is solid and getting better. I bet even a guy like Anderson Varajao can be a "star" on this team because that's how bad this team sucks in terms of big man depth. Even small man depth we still kind of suck. We had to grab the nbdl's allstars and take veterans that were playing out of position or were washed up. How good are Ellis, Baron, Biedrins, Sjax to make it this far while being such a thin team? Amazing.

So it's like before the Warriors management start talk about coaching, let's get this money issue squared up, find a better, deeper team, find players with their heads on straight (no red flags), and then get the coach that can come in and do things.

 

D'Antoni ain't the answer.

 

Imagine if the Suns didn't give away all their draft picks for nothing. They gave away a few lottery picks, if I remember correctly.

 

I'm against D'Antoni coaching the Warriors for multiple reasons but not the least of which is that I'd have to watch that stompey, whiney, childish "I can't BELIEVE you called a foul there! On US!" act after every call.

I don't know who the answer is but I'd say not D'Antoni. If anything I'd be less surprised to see Avery taking over for Nellie once again.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ May 1 2008, 10:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Kerr: Wants D'Antoni back despite another playoff exit

I wonder what is really going on here. It seems like nothing the coach did wrong. The Suns just had the misfortune of playing last year's defending champs, who are already an nba dynasty with Duncan, Bowen, Manu, and Parker. The Spurs coach is an expert in small and big ball so that's already tough to beat if he's got the tools to do what he wants. If anything, you got to blame what they gave up to get Shaq. Getting Shaq was a good idea so that Amare can blow up at PF, but you have to get others players in the offense if the Spurs are going to exploit Shaq. They foul him before the offense can run anything and also abuse him in transition. In cases like those, they would need to go with a lighter center (like Amare) and somebody with more ability both defensively and from beyond the arc like Shawn Marion. So I can see why that questionable trade of Shaq for Marion salary dump was a big gamble. Only certain situations can one or the other be the team's MVP in a playoff game. You'd think Marion would be the better one to keep because he can hit his free throws, play a lot more D than Shaq, and he does more at this stage than Diaw or Grant Hill.

I still believe the Suns' small ball has some chance to win championships, but they have to play defense. Many times lack of size and strength doesn't do enough to play tough defense. It just puts you at a disadvantage if the point guard can't clamp down on that ball or if the center can't move his feet and the next best defender isn't a strong weakside shotblocker. Like any of the past championship teams they play tough defense. The suns had a lot of guys that made each other better, played inside and out, but unfortunately there's defensive weaknesses and free throw shooting weaknesses all over on this team.

Also, I agree we need a coach who can play it big or small, whichever wins us games in the right situation. What we don't need is some guy stubborn beyond logic like how Nelly gets. I'm not sure about Mike D'antoni, but he's had it rough with not having had any center since acquiring Steve Nash. I don't think guys like Amare and Marion liked playing one position taller, but there was really no choice because of how thin their bench initially was and remained. They didn't even get high draft picks. I think our excuse was we signed stiff centers, we drafted young guys who were too young to play a good center right away, and we don't have any kind of true big man outside of Biedrins, who is solid and getting better. I bet even a guy like Anderson Varajao can be a "star" on this team because that's how bad this team sucks in terms of big man depth. Even small man depth we still kind of suck. We had to grab the nbdl's allstars and take veterans that were playing out of position or were washed up. How good are Ellis, Baron, Biedrins, Sjax to make it this far while being such a thin team? Amazing.

So it's like before the Warriors management start talk about coaching, let's get this money issue squared up, find a better, deeper team, find players with their heads on straight (no red flags), and then get the coach that can come in and do things.</div>

I think D'Antoni is being held accountable for the 4-1 exit and it seems like he was the proponent of getting Shaq on the team. If that was all there is to it, then I think D'Antoni takes most of the blame and comes up with a different scheme in order to beat San Antonio and the Lakers next year. However, that's not all there is. Kerr wants to see more defense and players being held accountable. In other words, their playing time depends how well they're playing defense out there, too. He's starting to meddle in how the coach is suppose to coach the team. I can see where each is coming from. D'Antonio can't just throw his coaching philosophy out the window when he's been successful with it and it's what he knows how to do best. This just seems like a rift where you can't have it both ways. I see D'Antoni leaving or getting fired. He's done in Phoenix.

 

I don't know, maybe it wasn't D'Antoni's idea to get Shaq. Remember how some Warriors fans thought it was Montgomery's idea to get Foyle and Fisher? Why would some GM let a rookie nba coach come in and pick a raw backup center with bad hands and a shoot first point guard who can't run a fastbreak? Not the nicest picks to play in his historically well executed college halfcourt offenses. I mean what video was the coach watching? This obviously meant it was a total Warriors front office move classic of all the other bonehead things they been doing in the past where they don't put teams together that fit. It was not the coach's fault.

I think this D'antoni thing is the front office putting the blame on the coach for the moves they made. Besides everyone knows it was Kerr's doing that brought Shaq in. It's ironic he's preaching D when he didn't play any of it. Maybe the front office has some legit beef against the coach in some areas (Like Larry Brown versus Rick Carlisle game by game results). Maybe it is also the team not responding well to certain coaching. Who knows. But I refuse to believe that D'Antoni should be the true guy blamed for front office screwups. In fact, it was him that surprised everyone with his ability to win without a legit center in that first year they played with Nash. Nobody thought they'd be any good after they traded Marbury and "overpaid" Nash and didn't sign any kind of center. Now coaches can be stubborn. Maybe that was his problem and not necessarily the guys he inherited from the GM.

And this Avery Johnson thing, he can't be entirely blamed for guys missing layups and Dirk Nowitzki being injured and the chemistry all being changed with JKidd in the lineup. Plus, whose idea was it to sign "one year" Dampier and give up in trying to re-sign Nash? Dampier hardly does anything.

I love the nba where the coach is the number one fall guy and the press and fans forget that the guy who pulls the strings are the GM and the owner.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HiRez @ May 1 2008, 08:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm against D'Antoni coaching the Warriors for multiple reasons but not the least of which is that I'd have to watch that stompey, whiney, childish "I can't BELIEVE you called a foul there! On US!" act after every call.</div>

So you wouldn't want Tim Duncan on the Warriors either?

 

I couldn't disagree more with all the anthi Dantoni sentiment. I'm looking at this from the other way. I don't think that Dantoni's playoff failures are necessarily due to bad coaching. If you look back to all their playoff exits, its always something out of his control that makes the difference. Like last year when Horry knocked their MVP into the table, and they couldnt' get their rhythm back and lost. Like when they suspended their other best player in Stoudemire for the next game. Everyone at home was like, "okay, Amare is out for the next game, so they're done. Of course, that's exactly what did happen. He didn't forsee either of those two things happening. He had them in the game the whole time.

To me, its all about beating the Spurs. The Suns were competing with SA the whole year. They could have won game 1 (overtime), and the last game had they not beaten themselves with so many mistakes. The margin of difference between the top 8 West Conf teams is so *small* as it is. If we could move Petrius and Barnes for a solid upgrade, and get a coach like Mike, I think we are in the top 8 next season. Mike could fit right in with our team, and would look to get us a little bigger as far as size goes.

If we didn't have Nelson or Dantoni, then who in the world do you expect that could get us back into the playoffs? There are only so many good coached in this league as it is. Mike tends to get beat by the most elite of all the coaches, and we aren't going to get any of those guys either (P Jax, Popp, Riley). So anyone else you don't get is going to be a downgrade anyway. I don't want to take a chance on a rookie coach. I want to win next year, after the great regular season we just put together. We are 1-2 moves away from the 2nd round of the playoffs and beyond, and our team already has chemistry together.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ May 2 2008, 07:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HiRez @ May 1 2008, 08:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm against D'Antoni coaching the Warriors for multiple reasons but not the least of which is that I'd have to watch that stompey, whiney, childish "I can't BELIEVE you called a foul there! On US!" act after every call.</div>

So you wouldn't want Tim Duncan on the Warriors either?
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NBA players are notoriously more whiney than other pro athletes. I think it's even worse when coaches do it.

I like the way Nellie protests calls.

 

I don't care if they whine. That matters very little in the big picture. Worrying about that means that you are not focusing on what is really important. Winning is the only thing that matters.